Leafs hope to stay alive in Game 6 vs. Bruins

(Sports Network) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will attempt to stave off
elimination for a second straight game on Sunday, as they host the Boston
Bruins at Air Canada Centre for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference
quarterfinals.

The fourth-seeded Bruins entered Game 5 with a 3-1 edge in the best-of-seven
series, but they failed to close out the series Friday night on home ice.

Toronto has a chance to extend the series on Sunday, but the club was 0-2 on
home ice in Games 3 and 4 after going 13-9-2 as the host during the regular
season.

The Maple Leafs, who ended a seven-season playoff drought in 2013, haven't won
a playoff game on home ice since beating Philadelphia on April 30, 2004 in
Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Flyers won that series nine
years ago, as Jeremy Roenick scored in overtime of Game 6 in Toronto to
eliminate the Leafs.

Boston, which was 12-9-3 as the road club this season, recorded a 5-2 win in
Game 3 and a 4-3 overtime decision in the next battle.

Toronto, however, answered back with Friday's 2-1 regulation decision. James
Reimer stopped 43 shots and Clarke MacArthur netted the winning goal early in
the third period to help the Maple Leafs stay alive and cut the series deficit
to 3-2.

"We came in with the mindset to just get it back to Toronto to give ourselves
a chance and we've done that," MacArthur said. "We want to keep going. We've
worked hard all year and I can see it starting to pay off."

Tyler Bozak also scored in the second period for the Maple Leafs, who will
visit Boston for Game 7 on Monday if it can post another win tonight.

"I see that we've poked the Bruins. They're going to be a very desperate
hockey club come Sunday night," said Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle.

Zdeno Chara netted the lone score in the loss and Tuukka Rask halted 31 shots
for the Bruins, who have lost two in a row at TD Garden in this series after a
Game 1 victory.

"If there's anything you take away from this, it's that we need to play three
periods like we did in the third to close this out," noted Bruins head coach
Claude Julien.

Boston played Friday without defenseman Wade Redden, who was replaced in the
lineup by Matt Bartkowski. Redden is questionable for Sunday with an
undisclosed injury.

Toronto defenseman Mark Fraser needed surgery to repair facial fractures after
getting hit by a puck in Game 4 and is out indefinitely. Fraser was replaced
in the lineup by John-Michael Liles in Game 5.

This is the 14th time these Original Six teams have met in the playoffs, but
the first since 1974, when Boston swept Toronto in the opening round.